This Thursday is National Cut Your Energy Costs Day — a day to recognize how to make changes in your home that can reduce your utility bills and improve the environment. Considering that heating the water in your home accounts for around 12% your utility bill, this is a great time to make adjustments to the way you use water at home. The first thing to consider is how energy efficient your water heater is. Most water heaters last 10–15 years, so even if it seems to be working well but is close to that age, you may still want to replace it. The energy savings alone could pay for the new unit after just a few years, and a newer unit is much better for the environment. Ask a plumber at Putman Plumbing for recommendations on water heater brands and models.

If you’re not ready to make a major purchase just yet, here are simple ways to reduce energy and save on your water heating bill.

Take showers instead of baths, and make them short. Filling up the bathtub almost always uses more water, and more energy, than the average shower. If you have small kids who love baths, just fill up the tub with enough water for them to splash in. Remind older kids and other adults in your home to limit their showers to 10 minutes or less — and if you can, shave with the water off.

Lower your water heater temperature to 120°F. This is a big one, since you can save from 3%–5% on water heating costs for every 10 degrees you lower the thermostat.

Use cold water for laundry. Yes, you’ll still want to wash bedding and towels with hot water, but you can always use cold water for the rinse cycle.

Only use the dishwasher when it’s full. You’ll waste a lot of heated water if you’re only washing half a load. Also select shorter wash cycles, – something many homeowners don’t even consider until they look at the options on their dishwashers.

If your dishwasher is ancient, save up for a new ENERGY-STAR unit. Each cycle will use around 5.8 gallons of water instead of the 10 that your old dishwasher uses.

Call a plumber to fix leaks. Even a leak as small as one drip per second is costing you an extra $1 per month. At 60 drips per minute, you’re wasting 8.64 gallons per day, and over 3,000 gallons per year. That’s a lot of good water being wasted.

Install low-flow fixtures. Shower heads and faucets manufactured before 1992 use more than twice as much water as new ones. New, low-flow shower heads are fairly cheap and can save 25%–60% on your energy bill.

Ask a Frederick County plumber to install heat traps on your water heater tank. This can save $15–$30 on your water heating bill.

Insulate water pipes connected to the water heater. If you’re not sure how to do this, contact Putman Plumbing for advice.

Buy a timer for your electric water heater. This will allow you to turn off the heater at night or times when you don’t use it.

There’s nothing like a hot shower on a cold winter morning, but most of us know that we can’t stay in the shower too long or we’ll drive the water bill up. What many of us don’t consider is that hot showers also use a lot of energy — which drives the electricity bill up as well. According the the U.S. Department of Energy, the average water heater in a household of 4 runs three hours each day, estimating that a 50-gallon, 5,500-watt water
heater with a .90 EF and an electricity rate of $.16 per kilowatt-hour will cost $781 each year.

That may sound like a foreign language to you, but you might be interested to know that it’s possible to lower that yearly hot water cost with a few easy changes. For lower energy bills in 2018:

Lower Your Water Heater’s Thermostat

Most water heaters come preset at 140 degrees, which really isn’t safe. For every 10 degrees you turn down your water heater’s thermostat, you’ll save 3% to 5% on energy use. A water temperature of 120 degrees is high enough for household use, and high enough to reduce mineral buildup in your tank and pipes. If you’re not sure how to change the temperature on your water heater, ask a trusted plumber in Middletown.

Buy New Shower Fixtures

A family of four who showers five minutes a day uses 700 gallons of water per week. Consider installing low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators to cut hot water consumption by up to 60% to save 14,000 gallons of water a year.

Be Smarter With Your Dishwasher

To save on energy bills, use the economy setting on your dishwasher, and remember that it’s not necessary to waste hot water by rinsing each dish before you load it. Simply scrape off larger chunks into the trash first.

Drain Sediment in Your Water Heater

Water heaters build up minerals and other sediment which makes them operate less efficiently. Draining this sediment periodically will keep it
running better, resulting in lower bills. Talk to a plumber at Putman about having this done safely.

Insulate Hot Water Pipes

Water in insulated exposed pipes arrives at the faucet 2 to 4 degrees warmer than in non-insulated pipes. This means you won’t have to run the water as long in order to get hot water. You can insulate exposed pipes in the basement or garage yourself, but you should talk to a plumber about insulating hot water pipes in crawl spaces or walls.

Putman Plumbing Would Love to Help Frederick County Customers Save Money in 2018

With the above tips, you can make your hot water heater last longer and enjoy lower utility bills all year. Just give us a call if you have any questions about how we can help!

It’s a fun time of year in Frederick County. Leaves are falling, ghosts and witches are sprawled across neighborhood lawns, and spooky jack-o-lanterns are grinning ear to ear about upcoming Halloween festivities. One thing you definitely want to do this Halloween is keep it fun – and that means not having to deal with plumbing disasters just when little goblins start ringing your doorbell.

1) Don’t put pumpkins in the garbage disposal!

Whether you’ve made a pumpkin pie or you just want to get rid of the slimy stuff after carving them, pumpkin rhinds, guts, and seeds don’t belong in the garbage disposal. The rhinds and seeds are too hard and can damage the blade, and stringy insides can clog and even damage the disposal. Avoid a malfunctioning nightmare and thrown them in a compost pile or in the trash.

2) Don’t ignore scary sounds in your pipes.

The moaning, banging or rattling coming from your pipes aren’t just regular sounds of the season. If you have high water pressure or loose pipes that need to be secured, you’ll hear these kinds of sounds. Call a plumber to investigate so you can have the problem fixed quickly.

3) Don’t let your faucets keep dripping.

The scariest thing about a dripping faucet is the scream you’ll hear when you see your water bill! It may not look like a lot of water as it comes out in tiny drops, but a leaky shower, tub or sink can actually add up to extra gallons of water per day. You’ll notice a huge difference on your bill if you have it fixed by a plumber. Don’t wait until those cute little ghosts hear your scream and run away!

We hope you enjoy all the fun things going on in Middletown and Frederick County this Halloween weekend. If you need any help with plumbing problems, give Putman Plumbing a call!

In hot, sticky weather, even kids who hate baths can’t avoid bathing at the end of every day. If you have a large family, water usage can really add up to create a much bigger water bill in the summer. We’ve put together a list of ways you can conserve water in your bathroom this summer so you have more money to spend on fun stuff.

Take Showers Instead of Baths

Yes, it’s hard to get toddlers to give up splashing in the tub. But as soon as your kids are old enough, have them switch to showers. The average bath uses 35 to 50 gallons of water, whereas a 10-minute shower with a low-flow showerhead only uses 25 gallons. Multiply that by 30 times a month, and you’ll save 300 gallons per person.

A low-flow showerhead may cost you up front, but you will save money down the road. Conventional showerheads flow at around 5 gallons per minute while low-flow showerheads typically flow at 2.5 gallons per minute.

Reduce Water Usage at the Sink

That constant drip you’ve been dealing with since spring isn’t just annoying – it’s wasting tons of water. You can lose 20 gallons per day from just one drippy faucet. Instead of just fixing the leak, consider having low-flow faucet aerators installed in your sink. Conventional faucets flow as high as 3 gallons per minute, but low-flow faucets flow at 1.5 gallons per minute.

And remember to remind your kids not to leave the faucet running while brushing their teeth!

Consider a Low-Flow Toilet

Flushing uses more water than anything else in the house. The average person flushes five times a day, so with kids home all summer long, that can really add up. Older toilets use 5 to 7 gallons per flush, but low-flow models use as little as 1.6 gallons.

Call Putman Plumbing in Frederick County

We can help you with leaks and clogs, install new faucets and toilets, and answer any other questions you have about summer plumbing. Just give us a call!

Can you believe it? It’s already 2014. While you’re making resolutions to improve yourself, don’t forget to make goals to improve your home. Some of those things may be ways to maximize water efficiency and save on bills – which will make you a happier homeowner throughout the year.

Schedule a Plumbing Inspection

If you haven’t had a plumber check out the water heater, pipes and other fixtures in a while, you should do it as soon as possible. Even if nothing seems wrong with the way your water flows, it’s a good idea to have someone come in once year to check that everything is working as well as it should. Chances are your plumber can help you save on water and heating bills with a few suggestions.

Conserve More Water

Talk to your family about how everyone can help cut back on your water bill. Tell the kids not to let the water run when brushing their teeth, and encourage them to take shorter showers. Load up your washing machine and dishwasher as full as possible, and don’t water the lawn when rain is in the forecast. You’ll see lower water bills before you know it.

Consider Going Green

By replacing your current water heater with a tankless model, or installing fixtures like eco-friendly toilets and low-flow shower heads, you can help conserve water and energy. And with certain green improvements to your home, you might also qualify for tax rebates.

Make Kitchen and Bathroom Upgrades

Whether you’ve added more children to the family or the kids have grown and left the nest, certain plumbing changes can make your home function more comfortably. If the kids have trouble pulling out the old rickety faucet in the shower, you could replace it with a new one. Installing a commercial-style faucet with a pull-out sprayer in your kitchen sink could make rinsing stacks of dishes a lot easier. And if you’ve dreamed for years about soaking in a jetted tub, maybe this is the year it will finally happen.

We at Putman Plumbing wish you a safe and Happy New Year. Let us know if we can help you meet your plumbing needs in 2014.

Today, June 21, the summer season officially begins. Along with it comes lounging by the pool, picnics in the park, baseball games, and other fun summer pastimes.

But summertime also usually means higher energy bills due to high air conditioning use. And it turns out that you lose that cool air-conditioned air through your roof during the hottest months.

That’s where we come in. If you want to save energy and money this summer, adding insulation to your attic will help. In particular, our energy-efficient Think Smart insulation is a breathable, reflective barrier that keeps the inside of your home cooler. Not only does it resist heat or cool, but it also reflects heat out of the house and cool into the house and vice versa, letting you keep a comfortable temperature in your home year-round.

Think Smart insulation is also environmentally friendly, which can save you up to 40% on heating and cooling costs.

Your attic is the number one area responsible for your home’s temperature this summer. Contact us to find out more about how Think Smart insulation can keep you cool even when it’s hot outside.

Conserving water is one of the best ways to help love the earth. And Putman Plumbing has a great way to make it easy with our RainPerfect™ rain barrel pump!

Now you can collect rainwater and use it throughout your lawn or garden, conserving energy and water. And you won’t have to worry about not having enough water pressure to use a hose. That’s because our system comes with a pump… that’s actually powered by the sun! That’s right, not only can you reuse the rainwater but you can have it pumped to where you need it in the yard by the power of the sun! Yep! It’s a solar-powered rain barrel! It doesn’t get any better than that!

Call us or click here to learn more about how Putman Plumbing can help you help the earth with a rain barrel pump. It’s good to be green on Earth Day, and every day!

The holiday season might be long over, but perhaps you noticed that, with all your family and friends in town, the hot water was in high demand and short supply. Perhaps the shower turned cold or you couldn’t get hot water to wash your hands.

The key to avoiding this dilemma next year and the solution to a hot water shortage is a tankless water heater.
What can that change, you ask? Well, there are several important benefits of a tankless heater, which include:
• Hot water without delay and only when it’s needed
• Save on your water heating bill
• No worrying about running out of hot water
• Longer-lasting
• Better energy efficiencies than standard water heaters
• Smaller and less bulky
• Can be installed most places